Opinion

One of the biggest topics in Spencer County news for the past few weeks has been the future of the North Spencer Alternative Education Center, which provides, among other services, opportunities for adults to finish their high-school education and move onto post-secondary education.

The North Spencer Alternative Center recently learned that it has the best director and the best adult learner in the state for 2007, and those are just a couple of the higher-profile accomplishments of the center.

I think the newspaper does a good job of extending thanks and congratulations to individuals and businesses who are recognized for their work, hard work and commitment to community.

Many of the letters to the editor we publish each week voice thanks to our neighbors who lend their time, talent and treasure to various projects. Our Hometown Heroes feature published approximately every two weeks offers an opportunity to thank individuals who might not otherwise receive the thanks they deserve. But, sometimes, good works go unnoticed.

Lately considerable attention has been focused on Sen. John McCain's age, with some saying he is too old to be president.

If elected, McCain would be 72 at his inauguration, making him the oldest man to become president. If elected to a second term, he would be 80 at the end of it - also the oldest ever. Ronald Reagan, who was almost 78 when he finished his second term, is the oldest to serve as president so far.

How wonderful the earth is springing back to life in bloom, with more to come. Of course, all of the planted bulbs have bloomed, now the perennials and the flowering almond, with its wonderful full-pink flowers. Forsythia with its bright yellow blossoms with its green leaves is starting to encroach on the yellow, the airy white clusters of blossoms on the sarvis tree.

Now, the redbud trees have joined the display with their purplish-pink blooms, with the dogwood and lilacs following. These are all beautiful while in bloom, but seem to be gone in a flash.

I'm again writing in hopes of saving our church building. St. Luke's Episcopal Church is located in the historic district of Cannelton. Courthouse records indicate the first deed on the two lots now held by the church was recorded Oct. 1, 1849.

Predating the Civil War by a decade, this historic church stands today as the oldest public building in Cannelton.

Beneath the church floors are tunnels, once leading toward the Ohio River but now sealed off, which enabled slaves to move via the Underground Railroad toward freedom.

I watched nursery workers plant an oak tree in front of the newspaper office Thursday. I had hoped it would go directly in front of my office window but it sits slightly to the south, easy to see when I'm sitting at my desk but out of sight when I'm front of my computer.

I often watched robins and other birds that loved to eat berries and chat in the old tree that grew for years right outside my window.

America has suffered tremendous setbacks within the nightmare, train-wreck presidency of George Bush. Our dollar seems almost worthless and our government owes trillions of dollars, mostly to foreigners, for the first time in our history.

Our economy is in shambles and we have almost no influence in the world past the reach of military, currently bogged down in an expensive and endless war.

I wish the pope had made his way farther west during last week's visit to the United States. Washington, D.C. and New York are both fine cities with lots to see and do and the pope was certainly given the royal treatment while here. Who else could get the presidential family to meet them at the foot of his plane or gather thousands of people on the White House lawn just to hear a few words?

We understand county commissioners' reluctance at getting involved in a family's land dispute, but the basic question posed to them by a Birdseye man this month should have been answerable.

As reported in today's issue, Herb Huff asked commissioners for information about a roadway in Oil Township that may or may not be a county road. Huff and his wife are in a long-running disagreement with other family members about whether access to the roadway just off Indiana 62 can be restricted or, if it is still county owned, has to be left open.

Hoosiers have been presented with a historic opportunity this year. For the first time in four decades, we will have a voice in choosing a presidential candidate.

We will have a voice in who will guide our nation as we move into a post-Bush world. This election is historic, and we must choose our candidate wisely. I am supporting Barack Obama, and I want to tell you why.

I was sound asleep in a Louisville hotel room April 3 when my cell phone rang with news of a nearly fatal house fire.

"Where are you?" asked the caller, a Tell City fireman who knows I'm usually Johnny-on-the-spot with a camera at fires. But I was at an annual newspaper meeting and at 3 in the morning, could only relay information about the blaze on 12th Street to the newsroom. We had a story online later that day and a print story in last Monday's edition. A follow-up piece appeared in Thursday's News.

"Unacceptable" is the best adjective to describe the escape of two prisoners from Branchville Correctional Facility. To put that another way, we will not tolerate killers and other violent criminals wandering freely in our community.

Also unacceptable is the failure of a prison-escape-alert system to do its job.

Since the late 1800s the world has come together every two years in the spirit of athletic competition. The best of the best pitting strength, agility and speed against each other during the Olympic games. During these games athletes of all nations, races, religions and cultures put differences aside to test not only their own abilities, but to bring glory to their home countries.

I am responding to the March 24 editorial in The Perry County News that makes references to several articles written about the Clintons. I found the editorial appalling and a one-sided approach to this upcoming election.

Your paper seems to be in lockstep with most of the national media in an obvious attempt to spin everything in a negative and biased way against the Clinton camp.

Stay out of the kitchen. I'm reminded of that old adage while catching hell for something in the paper. My backside has been warmed lately for a pair of stories. But that's nothing new really. I still hear complaints about stories published years ago, old grudges some people wear like chips on their shoulders.

I received two calls about the front-page story on last month's story on the D-Boys, the alleged gang blamed for beating up a Kentucky man. Police carted a few D-Boys to jail and the youth detention center and the cases are working their way through the justice system.

If you watch any of the old television shows from the 1950s, one of the attractions is the "new cars" driven by the characters. Those '57 Chevys, '56 Caddies, '58 Fords, and '59 Vettes that are considered ultra-classics these days were the cars you bought right from the dealer's showrooms in those days.

In 2007 it came to the attention of the Humane Society of Perry County that there is a growing problem in Cannelton, Tell City and Troy, with feral alley cats. These feral cats that are not claimed are living all over the county and breeding beyond control.

We have had numerous discussions with some officials concerning this problem and it is now time for those who are in power to act. No one seems to have the perfect solution.